Silent Noise
by valbino
Summary: HidanxOC. FRIENDSHIP. A lost girl in a forest, with nowhere to go. Hidan finds her by mischance. Kumogakure spirals out of the Raikage's control. The usual stuff. EDIT: Discontinued.
1. A mission

disclaymore: ...do you really think that Naruto would be the main character if I were in control?

me:weel, I know, I know, I said I wouldn't start on my HidaOC until later, but my likkle muses wouldn't leave me alone.

hidan:Yay val-val! You finally decided to get up off your ass and DO THE DAMNED FUCKING UPDATE!!!-skips around like an idiot-

shika:...and Im your favorite character. Why don't I get a story?

me:...because...um...well, the Akatsuki are more badass then you in some aspects. Otherwise, I'll prolly give you a oneshot somewhere. A nice, long, juicy oneshot. C;

shika:o.O

ita-sama:...okay. well, since there's a lack of HidanxOC pairing fics out there, Val wants yall to read this...

me:Yep. another thing(or two or three..): One: Reiki means "Cold wind". Two: Review, it's so appreciated when somebody likes the half-assed stuff I post here. three: Reiki is MUTE.(why yes, Val enjoys giving her characters a physical or mental problem, more enjoyable character xP)

* * *

"Seriously, Kakuzu, do you ever think about anything but your fucking _money?!"_ A platinum-blonde missing nin groused to his partner, glaring daggers at him.

"Yes. Not that you would know." Kakuzu rolled his inverted green eyes, and went through the details of the bounty he had decided to pursue, along with the large amount of monetary benefits to be reaped from it.

Hidan closed his violet eyes and leant against a boulder with his head bowed and arms crossed, clearly impatient, thinking about the details of the mission Leader gave the pair, for lack of anything better to think about.

_So, we're supposed to find some sort of crystal. Simple enough, right? _He uncrossed his arms and sat down, leaning against the same boulder, legs crossed, and his scythe laid across his lap. _Well, it had supposedly been sealed into this huge-ass cave, but then the seal wore down over the centuries. And, since out abilities allow us to go through pretty much any booby-trap unscathed, we got this lovely mission. The only problem? It's going to be sold. For fucking __money.__ And thus Kakuzu accepts, and I have to-_

"Hidan." Kakuzu broke his train of thought. "We're going." He flatly stated, already heading toward where Leader had pinpointed the general location of the cave.

Hidan followed, muttering colorful things under his breath about money.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Kakuzu carried the well-insulated pouch that held the brilliant gold crystal, which they had little trouble locating and retrieving, and also carried his high-profit bounty in the other hand, looking relatively pleased with himself to Hidan.

Hidan, on the other hand, was still muttering things about money and trying to slow them down as much as possible without being obvious.

As Kakuzu collected his bounty, Hidan stood outside the entrance, looking relatively conspicuous. Then he heard something. A rustle? He turned his gaze slightly to the left, trying to locate the origin of the sound, and saw something that most likely wouldn't belong in the surrounding forest: a large section of mesh cloth.

He raised an eyebrow and crouched down on his haunches, delicately picking up the mesh with one hand, triple-bladed scythe resting against the cave wall. He heard another rustle, and then a crack. He flicked his eyes in the direction of the sound, and saw a long, red section of hair tangled in the twigs of a bush. Human hair.

Standing up, he moved quietly towards the bush in question, and roughly pushed aside a section of it when he was close enough.

"The hell?" He asked, mostly to himself, in question of the scene before him.

A girl lay sprawled out on the ground, breathing hard, tugging weakly on the piece of hair tangled in the bush; indeed, she had long, straight, grimy dark red hair, and pale, equally grimy skin. The scared expression on her face wasn't accompanied by a scream, squeak, whimper or otherwise fearful noise. Odd, Hidan thought.

"I suppose this would be the point at where I ask your name..." He flatly stated.

She blinked her large eyes and stared fearfully at him like a small mouse caught in the act of stealing cheese, hands now held up to her chest, lightly fisted together. No reply.

"Dammit, answer." He muttered, already irritated.

Still no answer. The girl closed her eyes and hugged herself, then opened her eyes and started to shiver.

Hidan raised an eyebrow. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

She made the same movement, but with more exaggerated movement, and kept her eyes to the ground.

"Winter? Is that your name?" He deadpanned.

She shook her head left-to-right. So it wasn't winter. _This game of charades is tiring..._, he thought.

He tried again, trying to stay calm. "Is it...Reiki?"

This time, she nodded, and looked up at him. He noticed her eyes were a shade of grey, but then shrugged it off.

"Oi, Hidan, let's get back to headquarters and--who the hell is that?" Kakuzu interjected.

"I think her name's Reiki. Maybe we should take her back there?" Hidan asked, not particularly caring about Kakuzu's opinion.

"Pah. You found her, you do whatever you want." Came the short reply.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-


	2. An interrogation

disclaymore: ...if I owned Naruto, would I be writing fanfiction, now...? xD

hidan:...Ahaha! FINALLY!

Itachi:...was I in character enough for the fangirls...? -.-

me:...idk, but an important note: THIS HAS NO RELATION TO MY ITACHI STORY WHATSOEVER, YOU HEAR??

shika:how noisy...mendokusei...

* * *

Reiki cocked her head to one side, and stood up, staring a bit blankly at Hidan, knees shaking a little. _Trust...Them..? _She blinked and then looked at the long section of hair twisted among the brush, and crouched down on her haunches to disentangle it.

Kakuzu took in her appearance and slightly blank facial expression. He noted that she was wearing a rather expensive blue shirt-now mud-stained and grimy-and an equally expensive-and equally dirty-dark green skirt, and she wore no shoes.

He took note that, from her currently displayed mannerisms and expressions, she most probably could have a mental problem, or be one of the mute. In this case, the latter seemed to be the most probable; she hadn't said anything, or tried to. Still, something didn't fit in with all of this...

"Hidan. Explain to me how you got her name."

"Oh. That was easy. She was using some movements and shit to give me her name." Hidan waved his hands around in the air for emphasis.

"Enlighten me," Kakuzu suggested.

"Why the fucking hell should I?" Hidan griped. "You never fucking did anything for me!" He then promptly rolled his eyes.

"...You're no help."

"I am most aware of that," the scythe-weilder muttered, with a smirk.

"Shut up."

_Maybe...I could... _Reiki had listened to the previous conversation, and had heard several new words that she hadn't been taught. A few sounded suspiciously like curses. She pulled the last few strands from the bush and stood back up. She hesitated momentarily, then made a movement.

"Oi, get the hell off!" Hidan yelled when Reiki tackle-hugged(0) him.

"It appears she has taken a liking to you." Kakuzu observed, with a smug undertone. At Hidan's glare, he added, "No. I'm not going to help you. You got in to this situation, you're going to get yourself out. And don't get me involved."

She detached herself from Hidan and took a small step back, and tilted her head to the side a little, as if confused.

"...Yes. You can come along. Just don't make any damn trouble or your gone." Hidan conceded, just to spite his partner.(1)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So you're saying, essentially, that she was found in the middle of the forest near where Kakuzu obtained his bounty," Pein, the Akatsuki Leader, resisted the urge to massage his temples; Hidan was one of the more troublesome members, and apt to do reckless things. "And that her name is Reiki. And how, praytell, are you going to keep her out of trouble while on Jinchuuriki retrieval missions...?"(2)

"Easy. Leave her in Tobi's" Hidan jerked his thumb in the direction of the being in question,"care. He's so damn harmless, he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"And how exactly are we going to guarantee Tobi's being availible?"

"Look, I don't give a flying fuck about your questions. It's quite obvious that she'd die out there in the wilderness." A thought then occured to him. If there was one thing Leader valued, then it would be information, thus..." ...And she _could_ have some information to give..."

"I see your point," Pein allowed, now sounding considerably more interested than a few seconds ago. "Itachi."

The Uchiha turned his gaze towards the Leader. "Yes?"

"Question a girl that Hidan found. See what information you can gather."(3)

Itachi nodded. "Very well."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Reiki glanced around the stone chamber, and took note of the two chairs directly across from each other, maybe a meter apart. _What is..this..? _

"Okay, Reiki-chan, this is where he"-Hidan pointed at a certain black-haired Uchiha, "Is going to ask you some stuff, take names, gather info, blah blah blah, et cetera, et cetera. Understand?"

She nodded once, getting the gist of what he said.

Itachi smoothly sat in a chair, holding a pen and a notepad with a few simple yes-or-no questions already written out. Reiki took the chair across from him. Itachi glanced at Hidan, obviously wanting him to leave the room. Hidan rolled his eyes and then left the room, muttering obscenities under his breath. The Uchiha turned his eyes-Sharingan not in use at the moment-back towards Reiki.

"Can you speak at all?" He began, seeing no reason for preamble or explanation.

She shook her head. _N-no..._

As he wrote down her response, he asked the second question. "Do you know your country of origin, and, if possible, your city of origin?"

She nodded. Itachi also wrote this down, and continued.

"Are you from Konoha?"

She furtively shook her head.

"Suna?"

And shook her head again.

"Iwa?"

And again.

"Kumo?"

She nodded. Itachi wrote down her village of origin next to the question.

"Do you have a brother?"

_Akakumo(4)..._ She weakly nodded, realizing something. This person in front of her looked like ... _Aniki!_ She blinked several times. Black hair. Long bangs. Pale. Calm. Dark eyes. He looked very much like her Aniki.

"Is he a shinobi?" Itachi asked the question, writing it down. At her slightly confused nod, he wrote 'yes' next to it, and closed his eyes momentarily to come up with a new question. From what he had gathered thus far, if her brother was a shinobi from Kumogakure, then she had the potential to become a kunoichi. If she wasn't lying, and that she was mute, then it was possible, that, as a small child, she was rejected and neglected because of her lack of speech. So, possibly...

Itachi's thoughts were broken off at a sudden tackle-hug from the girl being questioned. He snapped open his eyes and stared down at the top of her head. _I remind her of someone...? Hm. _He carefully pulled her arms from around his waist.

"I remind you of someone." No need to hesitate or mull it over. This was an interrogation, after all.

At her nod, he continued. "I doubt I am that someone. I'm from Konoha," He gestured to his hitai-ate bearing a slashed leaf symbol,"not Kumo. Do you understand this?"

She bit her lip. _Not Aniki? _She glanced away and closed her doe-like eyes, then nodded. She took a single step back and sat upon the wooden chair again.

"Is your brother...powerful?" He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

She cocked her head to one side, eyes half-lidded. As if confused. _He went away. Said he'd come back...Raikage, is that what...not Aniki meant?_

She gave a slight nod.

"I believe I have enough information, then. Find Hidan."

-.-.-.--.-.-.

GAH! forgot to add the likkle bitty notes!

(0)tackle-hug? A glomp. tackle-hug sounds more dramatic and slighty more serious than GLOMP.

(1)I believe Hidan would take Reiki along simply to make Kakuzu mad, haha. Well, it was this or Hidan licking Kakuzu's face to disgust Kakuzu, xDDDD

(2)Jinchuuriki are those people that have demons sealed in them, like Naruto, Yugito, Gaara, etc...

(3)I see Itachi as being the main interrogator person, simply because he's both intelligent and easy on the eyes. Yes, I am aware that this story is supposed to feature Hidan. So? Hidan couldn't think of the appropriate questions to ask each individual if his "life" depended on that :D

(4)Akakumo-you may correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe it means something like 'red cloud'. And aniki means 'big brother'...xD


	3. Desicions

Disclaymore:Nope. Don't own Naruto...[yet xD

me:...hehe. Well, here's a nice likkle edit. Decided to put a spotlight on Akakumo :D

hidan:...interesting...

ita-sama:..why on EARTH does he have to look like me?

shika:Zzz...(me:...d:)

ita-sama:And why the hell doesn't shikamaru have any say in this right now?

_me:...you COULD explain why you switched to italics on ME!!!_

_ita-sama:Oh, it's on, Sistah!!!!-dramatically strips self of cape and readies Sharingan-_

_me:Hell yeah it is!!!-dramatically whips out pen, paper, keyboard, and computer, puts on jedi robe- BUahahahahaha_

* * *

Reiki looked at her surroundings: two large beds, a few tapestries, and several doors.

The bed she was currently sitting on had sot, rich, bloodred sheets. The tapestries she was looking at depicted a strange symbol as a background to hideous showings of gore and frighteningly grotesque creatures. She nervously edged away from them.

She had considered exploring the rest of Hidan and Kakuzu's quarters further, but decided it would be better not to know what lay behind those several doors.

She flopped back on the bed--she presumed Hidan's--and stared at the ceiling, eyes half-lidded. Daydreaming.

Steam billowed out of one of the doors. Hidan stepped into the main area of the apartment-esque space, towel wrapped around his waist. He glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, then went about his business--dressing. He took notice of her curious gaze.

"What the hell are you staring at?"

Reiki blinked. He looked odd without his hair slicked back against his scalp. It was limp with wetness, and a slightly darker shade of gold than usual, but definitely not slicked back. _He looks...weird..._ She didn't want to call him pretty. Pretty was for girls. But handsome didn't fit either. So weird did the trick.

"It's fucking creepy when people stare, and damn impolite too," He muttered.

She caught every word, and glanced away, cheeks tinged with pink. _Aniki had said something close to the same..._

_-.-.-.-.-.- _

"So, Itachi, what are your conclusions?" Pein laced his fingers together and rested his chin upon his hands, slightly intrigued.

"She was, possibly, born a mute. Based on mostly assumption, mind you, she may have been neglected as a child to some degree; she can understand words, but most likely cannot read." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "And, she has a brother. Who is a shinobi, powerful, possibly."

"Enlighten me," the Leader drawled.

"She hugged me. This leads me to presume that her brother looks--and possibly acts--like me to some degree. I propose that we do a search for powerful Kumo-nin that have an appearance similar to mine."

"Ah. This is a very intriguing idea. She could possibly have a great deal of information. Do you have any idea of the rank of this powerful Kumo-nin?"

"Only that he is powerful. At least Jounin."

"Very well. You may go now."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I'm not sure this would be one of your best ideas, Pein." A blue-haired woman commented.

"You always say that. And what do I always say, Koran?" He closed his grey eyes.

"'Trust me.'"

Pein was currently working out what exactly to do with this 'Reiki.' If Itachi's assumptions were correct, then he would have to find somebody to teach her how to read and write. There were only two people that could possibly teach her: Itachi, and Hidan. The former was preferable, of course, but that would involve a complicated process of introducing them officially and getting her resettled in Itachi and Kisame's quarters. The latter would probably outright refuse. But then he would have to teach her how.

It was quite obvious who the prime choice was.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Rokudaime Raikage paced back and forth in front of his desk, agitated.

His little sister was missing.

"...Find the ANBU captain, Kira." His icy tone disguised his nervousness.

"Hai, sir."

Kira teleported out of the room with a 'poof' of smoke, leaving his superior behind.

"Damn!" Akakumo slammed his fist on the old wooden desk. It splintered satisfyingly well. "I should have kept her within sight, or perhaps even in my quarters..." He trailed off.

"Sir."

"Oh...You may go, Kira." He waved a hand.

"Hai."

Kira strode out of the room to file some papers, leaving a masked ANBU in his wake. "Raikage-sama?"

"Ah. Yes. What do you know of the surrounding area; please, refresh my memory."

"Hm. It is believed that there is a large forest surrounding a large cave system a few kilometers southward."

"'Believed.'" The agitated Raikage repeated, obviously not convinced this person was an ANBU.

"Yes. Remember, this village is short on cartographers and surveyers. We could have a crew from Konoha in a few--"

"Leave. And see me tomorrow morning."

"...Uh...H-Hai, Raikage-sama!" The ANBU saluted and teleported away.

The now-alone leader of the Kumogakure massaged his temples after sitting at his splintered desk, thinking. _If I hire a crew from Konoha, that would drain my resources. But if I leave this village to search for Reiki, then the council would literally tear apart every amendment I've made, and then somehow find a new Raikage. And then where would I be? _"God, I need sake..." He muttered, stalking out of his office and into the cityscape.

He slowly walked through the winding, almost organic-feeling streets. Many of the buildings were spherical and/or tall and thin--sometimes flexible, to reduce the effects of the severe wind storms that ravaged the landscape. Even more of them were a polished white that looked alien, especially on a blustery, rainy day like today. He glanced at the sky, ignoring the way the wind whipped his long, black hair into his face. Rain drops fell, blown about by the wind.

He closed his eyes, recalling how morbidly beautiful the sky could be, with the clouds swirling around the edges of the low valley the village was centered in, and the whispy cirrus clouds below the cumulus clouds, all shades of purple and blue and green. A small, small smile tugged at the edge of his lips. _It looks even better when it's hailing and raining. So, so much better. _

He stopped at the only real food shop in Kumogakure.Meaning, that it was the only place the Raikage could go without being hounded by the media, fans, and haters alike, all asking what his next act would be. He slid open the convex surface of the door, quickly shutting it behind him, then removing his shoes and shuffling into simple black slippers.

"Ah, Akakumo-sama. What would you like today...?" The humble owner of the establishment led him to his seat, as always, at the top floor, with the largest window in Kumo giving him a beautiful view of the village.

"Information. And sake," He quietly replied, already lost in the vision the panoramic window gave.

"That will do! ...wait. What kind of information?"

"On the surrounding area, of a forest."

"To the..."

"South."

"Ah. Just a moment. How would you like your sake?"

"Colder than the winter frost."

"He-he. You never could stand it warm..."

"Shut up. I'm trying to think..." He muttered.

Akakumo's gaze settled on the Raikage tower. It was really several tall, thin towers that were interconnected by equally thin tunnelways at different floors. The shade of jet-black, with several intricate silver patterns on the central tower containing his office, reflected the sky and other surrounding buildings. Even a great deal of the taller buildings connected, mostly to allow easy travel out of the ruthless elements.

The shorter buildings--less than three or four stories--sometimes had interconnecting tunnelways, but not usually. Merely the closer-together apartment complexes, or small businesses. And, of course, the only building to reach more than fifty stories is the Raikage tower. The second tallest building was thirty stories high--the sake place he was currently in.

"Here's your sake, per orders. About that information?" The shop owner sat down across from Akakumo, temporarily obstructing his view.

"Thank you. Yes. I was wondering how large that forest down there was, and if there are any caves in that very forest."

"Ah...would you care to hear a story?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh. I'll give you the relatively accurate map of it...here. No charge this time, Akakumo-sama."

"What about the sake?" He asked, slightly confused.

"That's on the house. It's tough, missing a family member."

"You speak as if she's dead..." Akakumo's voice was on the edge of blind rage.

"That's not what I meant." The owner of the establishment replied. "Not at all."


	4. Lessons

AN: Ohohohooooo, it's been FAR, FAR too long.

(by the way, changed it from romance to friendship, mostly to ease my story-plotting stress a bit.)

Better late than never, eh?

* * *

"Fuck!"

"Still mad, I see." Kakuzu was busy sitting in an armchair, calculating his fortune.

"Hell yeah! How would _you _like teaching someone to read?!"

"If the pay was good, I wouldn't particularly care."

"Of course, you and your fucking money again!!" Hidan glared at his partner, rolled his eyes, and promptly turned around, then flopping down on his bed.

"If you were going for an intimidating effect, you ruined it."

"Fuck you!"

-.-.-.-.-

_Why...is he always so angry?...Makes no...sense..._ Reiki lay on Hidan's bedspread, ignoring his attempts to get her off.

"...Look, I'm not normally this fucking nice. I have to teach you how to read, though why your family or whatever didn't bother boggles me to hell." The platinum-blond huffed.

She glanced at him. He caught a look in her grey eyes that communicated...a lot, to him; they looked wet. He raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't comment.

"Hidan."

"...Konan-san..." He glared at the blue-haired woman. "What the hell, does Leader need me to run an errand?"

"No. I am supposed to check on your progress, give reports back to Leader-_sama_, and, if necessary, assist you." Her sickly yellow gaze fell on Reiki. "I see you're making little progress. Here are some materials, in case you're not sure of where to start."

"Uh-huh. I don't suppose you're going to come back anytime soon?" Hidan snatched some workbooks from Konan's elegant hands.

"Yes. Tomorrow. 6 am. Then every 6 hours after that. Once you're making fast progress, every 12 hours. Then once a day. Is that clear?"

-.-.-

Akakumo stared from his office into the edges of Kumo's limits. Roughly two-thirds to the edge, the sleek and weather-proof buildings devolved to the slums, where the shacks were still more or less immune to the elements(per Kumo law), even though the materials were salvaged from demolition projects and the like.

It sickened him.

And there was no word from his messenger whether or not Konoha would be willing to part with a single team of cartographers. Kumogakure could provide a team of ANBU to protect them, but only a team. Those cartographers were essential in aiding the locating of Reiki.

Unfortunately, Konoha was, at the fastest, a five-day journey for even the most skilled of jounin. And in most missing persons cases, twenty-four hours meant the difference between life and death. Since twenty-four times six—it had already been a day, plus the five the journey to Konoha would take—was one hundred forty-four, it was that many hours until a message would be sent to confirm or deny his request.

And that many hours to agonize and worry, until he could barely handle those menial tasks of being Raikage.

Already he could feel the nausea coming on.


	5. DISCONTINUING, End Game

AN: I've decided to discontinue this fic for the time being. I have the story fresh in my mind, but I don't really feel like writing it given how Kumogakure's true design and such was not even close to what I had in mind. I might rewrite it in the future, because I really did like this idea. :c Though for now, I will basically compile a few scenes here and there in vaguely chronological order, and add notes in parentheses for plot stuff.

Please don't get pissed at me. I just don't have the motivation or time (I'm betaing for someone, and have four other stories on here I would rather work on, even if none of them are as popular, and school is starting up in a little over a week)

Also my RDs are _never_ like this. This is more of an outline than how I work.

000

(First major plot point: Raikage starts to investigate the deep dark underbelly of Kumogakure, gets angsty over conflict between his duty as Raikage and his love for his sister)

000

Hidan stared blankly at the girl. He could barely remember being a four year old and learning how to read and write. This girl was probably in her mid or late teens. Alright, he thought, let's try letters.

"Hey. You. Get over here."

Reiki stared for a moment, then hopped onto Hidan's bed. Hidan shuffled through the books before finding something that was close to what he needed. There was also a package of pencils and a pad of paper.

"Seriously? Leader and Konan expect me to teach you...in a fucking month? Why not have Red-eye use his fancy dojutsu to...argh!" the silver-haired man threw the workbooks in a fit of anger.

When he calmed down a bit, he snatched a pencil and some of the paper up from the floor and set the items in front of her. Then he took another pencil and held it in his right hand.

"Okay. Reiki. Whatever the hell your name is. See this? This ... is a pencil." _I am going to fucking murder someone. _"You write with it. Try holding it like I am."

She bent forward and imitated Hidan's gestures, but held it in her left hand.

"...Eh, good enough."

(Most of that scene is just some of Hidan talking to himself and trying to get her to write the letters of the alphabet, nothing I really want to write any more of. xD )

000

Akakumo stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was paler than usual, and his eyes were bloodshot. He felt nauseous. First his sister gets kidnapped, and now the very infrastructure of Kumogakure is crumbling a bit more with each second.

(some more angst, then some heroic resolve, etc. And messenger hawks)

000

Kakuzu loomed in the door frame to Hidan's room. It had been two weeks. Konan's progress checks were only once a day already. The silver-haired bastard finally glanced up at him.

"What do you want?"

The red-haired girl turned, too, her long hair worn in a braid now.

"Hidan, I am curious. How does an inarticulate _fool_ like you suddenly become a great teacher?"

Hidan scoffed. "There's not a single fucking trick to it. Kid learns fast, seriously."

At this, Reiki smiled.

"I see. You do realize, of course, that you very well can't sacrifice her to your god when we have information. Apparently there is a huge sum being given to whoever finds her. Hundreds of thousands. And from the man's own pocket." There was a shine to Kakuzu's eye.

"Fuck you."

"Leader-sama has ordered you to refrain from killing her when the information is extracted. The money we could receive from returning her to her brother alive is worth far more than any existing bounty for her."

"How about I sacrifice YOU?"

Hidan stood, reached for his scythe leaning against the wall, lessons forgotten. Reiki cringed at the volume and tone of his voice. Kakuzu stared down at him.

(Uhm, I forgot where I was going to go with this, so yeah, some random bonding moment I guess, Kakuzu gets snide, OC gets scared.)

000

Akakumo stood in the designated meeting spot, waiting for the Akatsuki to arrive with his sister, money in a bundle in his hands. A lot had changed since she had been kidnapped. Kumogakure's infrastructure was at least stable now, his council worked together to get the economy back up and running, and now, maybe, he could let himself feel relief.

000

Hidan walked away from the rendezvous point feeling dissatisfied. Kakuzu got his money, the Raikage got his sister back, but what was in it for him? Nothing. Even though he had had no pleasure in being forced into the job of teaching a mute girl literacy (privately, he suspected that Red-Eye would have been a better choice), she had managed to charm him.

(Okay, I'm too lazy to finish up every scene I would like to.

So, long story short, Akatsuki gets the info they want, Kuzu turns Reiki in to the Raikage for a large amount of money, and Hidan gets sentimental ... sort of.)

000

Well, hope that gives any of you readers a bit of an idea on where it was headed. I also hope you check out some of my other stories, too C:

-Val


End file.
